From a distance, Nepal appears to be a county consisting of high mountains covered in snow. Indeed, this magnificent landscape with its huge water reservoirs of snow, ice and glaciers can be found in wide areas ranging over the north, however further south in the Midmountain- and the Terai- region, the temperatures increase dramatically and people face an intense dry season. The reforestation with multi-purpose forest gardens is expected to replenish water sources and guarantee access to water for the adjacent villages.

Smart climate farming and ecologic land management can only be sustained when it not only yields food and feed but generates a stable income base for the farmers and the local economy. Beside all other ecologic advantages, a climate farming system has to generate a higher and more regular income than the easier conventional systems of mono-culture cropping with chemical fertilizers. Moreover, the income from harvesting the leaves of a cinnamon tree has to become more lucrative than cutting the tree and selling the wood.

UK AID supports our project to scale-up climate positive forest gardens in Nepal. The objective of the Building village economies through climate farming & forest gardening (BeChange) project is to  sustainably re-cultivate abandoned agricultural land with forest gardens. The expected benefits include erosion control, improved water management, multiple ecosystem services, carbon sequestration, improved food security and farmer income.

Imagine each village in the world having a tree nursery. This one small change could lead to massive benefits; climate change, land degradation, water shortage, and biodiversity loss could all be limited or even reversed. Decentralised upscaling of tree production and carbon farming activities are key elements for sustainable land management and the preservation of natural ecosystems. To demonstrate how this may work and be scaled up in rural Nepal, Ithaka created an independent and farmer-managed tree nursery network. It guarantees the supply of high quality and biodiverse tree saplings to project villages and every interested farmer.

In 2016 Ithaka created the carbon subscription system where CO2-emitters can enter into long term contracts with private farmers in Nepal. The farmers guarantee the plantation and maintenance of forest gardens whereas private subscribers guarantee payment of a monthly fee for the carbon sequestered in the newly established forest garden. The system is based on a smartphone APP monitoring tree growth, tree use, and soil organic carbon for each single parcel of farmer owned land. Thanks to this APP, the CO2-subscribers can follow via the internet the growth and carbon sequestration of each tree for which they paid carbon credits. Ithaka’s open-access GIS-APP approach simplifies the monitoring process and may build a bond of trust and personal connection between smallholder farmers and carbon emitting citizens.